NEW ORLEANS, La.-It's been a long five weeks and four days since Notre Dame (10-2) lost to the USC Trojans by a decisive 20 points. The time was made to seem longer by a chattering national media that seemed to take great pleasure in declaring the Irish an overrated 10-2 and an unworthy Allstate Sugar Bowl opponent of LSU (10-2) from the mighty Southeastern Conference.

Certainly not all of the criticism has been unjustified. A quick span of the 10 Bowl Championship Series teams shows the Irish lacking on the defensive side of the ball, which tends to be an accurate measuring stick in games of this magnitude.